Close Your Eyes
by Wespe
Summary: Gaz and Dib share an intimate relationship. More intimate than they know...GADR. Now with lemon.
1. Healing Wounds

He was bruised and battered – but still standing. He limped to the door of his home, the sweet swirl of the evening air whispering behind his ears with a symphony of crickets in the background. He opened the door to reveal the brilliant light within to the bare darkness of the twilight outside and then closed the door behind him.

He took off his heavy boots and laid them neatly by the door, before proceeding to trudge his weary feet along the rough carpet. His right foot trailed behind his left as he dragged it across the hallway into the living room. He collapsed on the couch and laid there.

He could feel his pulse racing through his swollen bruises that still ached with a dull pain from his last engagement with his foe. There was a sharp biting sensation coming from the cuts on his arms and chest and the few that had been etched like razors on his back. His hair was disheveled and some blood was dripping from the edge of his mouth down the side of his face. In short: he was a wreck.

Turning on his side, he could see his sister staring at him from the corner of the room where she sat poignantly in the recliner.

"Did you lose?" she asked, purposely ignoring his sorry condition.

"Not... exactly." he muttered out, wiping the bitter tasting blood away with his coat sleeve. "He... he... snuck up on me and... yeah..."

She sighed reluctantly. "Geez Dib, you're 16 now. Aren't you ever going to stop fighting?"

"Not until he yields first." he said between groans of pain.

She sighed again. "Here, let me have a look." She motioned to him lay down on the floor while she disappeared into the kitchen. He did so, shedding his jacket and shirt to reveal is pale, but slightly toned chest, that was riddled with various assortments of wounds. When she returned, she came bearing the first aid kit. Dib let his sister go to work on him. He couldn't speak, only hang his head in a defeated bow. "Here, this is gonna sting." she warned.

She applied the wet cotton ball his cut. He cringed a bit at the cold water, writhing at the sudden harsh sensation radiating from his open cut. She laughed a little under her breath at his reaction. "It's not funny." he said.

"I know." she replied as she gently continued to rub the area, letting the water wash away the sweat mixed with dry blood and dirt. She continued on, cleaning one cut after another while Dib sat there quietly, letting his sister bind his wounds.

This was an odd scene, Dib had to admit to himself. A few years ago he would have probably laughed if someone had told him that Gaz would be looking after him. It was a strange thing to see her transform into this motherly figure seemingly overnight with the onset of adolescence. It was just one of those girl things, he concluded. Weird how all of that worked. The Gaz he had once known was angry, bitter, and mean; well... she was still all of those things, but she didn't take everything so seriously now. She allowed herself to smile and laugh every now and again, and put down the video game for more than 2 minutes. And now...she was actually helping him. All every odd indeed.

"So, how was your day?" Gaz asked, bringing Dib back from his proverbial musings.

"Hmm? Oh...good. I got a 'B' on the history test..."

"At least it's the weekend right?"

"Yeah. I guess that's true." He had to confess, he kind of like the new Gaz. She was definitely sociable.

When she was done with his back, she motioned for him to turn over. He complied without a second thought. He lifted himself off his stomach and then laid on his back as she returned to her tedious work. When she was done she disregarded the now bloody and stained cotton balls and packed what she didn't use back into the first aid kit. She went back into the kitchen and set in back in the counter where it belonged and closed the cabinet door.

She returned into the living room with the still shirtless Dib sitting on the floor. She nudged him, "Here" she said, she held two glasses in her hands filled with a dark substance, with one out-reached toward her brother.

"Dad's wine?"

"Of course."

He nodded and took the glass in his hand, allowing himself to sip down the sweet liquid. She sat beside him. "So, you gonna stop fighting for a little while?"

"I don't know..." The silence was deafening.

"Don't you think you're taking this all just a bit too seriously?"

"No! He's an alien Gaz! An alien! He wants to destroy us!"

"Yeah, but his plans never work..."

"That's only because I'm there to stop them!" She rolled her eyes and sipped on the rim of the cup. Dib glanced at his sister. She is wearing her normal attire and her normal hair but there was something different about her, but he couldn't tell. "Besides...the world counts on me."

"I don't know." she said musing, "Sometimes the world deserves to burn."

"How could you say that?" he asked in a more intrigued tone.

"Think about it Dib, how many of our classmates actually like you?"

"Gerda..."

"I thought you said you said she dumped you."

"Oh yeah... that's right." he allowed the realization of his sister's words to set in. He didn't want to respond any further, only tip the lid on his cup a little farther, but the words were finally produced in a hoarse groan.. "I guess nobody cares for me." he said bearing defeatism.

"What makes you say that?"

He glares at her in frustration. "Either choose one side or the other, but don't keep jumping the fence. Either insult me or compliment me, but not both."

"I never insulted you." she said walking over to him. "And I said no one at school cares for you." she bends down and looks him in the eyes, "But you know Dib, I do."

The last words were like a massive bell vibrating inside his head. He didn't know what to say, only stare as the realm between what was real and what wasn't slowly started to merge and form fantastical ideas that he himself could never have imagined. She got up off her knees and went toward the door, "I'm going for a walk, you wanna come?"

He had to mentally shake himself to get his mind to form the words to come out of his mouth. "Sure".


	2. Evening Stroll

**Boy did this take my a long time to write! Not in actual time of working, I mean the time I spent thinking of it. I had a hard time getting a definitive idea of what I wanted to happen. Funny how all that works. Anyhow, here it is for your enjoyment. Cheers!**

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><p>He didn't take his eyes off her, he couldn't. Between the shadows of the ancient trees that loomed over the sidewalk he would gaze in those split seconds between dark and light in awe at his sister's beauty, cherishing each moment the moon shined upon her face before it would return into the darkness, obscuring it from his view. Each time he felt a moment of bitter grief when he was deprived of her beautiful image; for he had to admit to himself that she was indeed, quite beautiful.<p>

It was cold out tonight; the wind was silently whispering a dull, sedated lullaby amongst the fallen leaves of autumn's late arrival. The warm reds, yellows, and browns of those once vibrant leaves dotted the pavement with a colorful spectrum of hues, standing in stark contrast to the barren and naked branches of the lifeless trees above. A biting chill in the air reminds them both of the changing of the season.

Dib bundled his coat over shoulders, trying to ward off the unpleasant sting of the cold. Gaz on the other hand, wore no jacket – yet she didn't seem affected. She walked on, her face neatly composed and her posture quite relaxed. She did not seem to be in any discomfort, which worried Dib.

"Are you not cold?"

There was a hushed moment of silence between them as the wind gently whisked a lock of her purple hair to one side. "I'm fine." she said smiling, "I don't mind the cold."

Dib felt a hot flash radiate in his cheeks and a trickle of sweat fall down his neck. It was the first time he had ever seen Gaz give him that sort of smile. It was a haunting leer, a knowing smile. That kind of smile which tells you that you're not in control even though you feel like it. In fact, he knew deep down he was putty in her hands and she knew this as well. The question was: would he admit it to himself?

He tried to reassure himself and blow the image into the back of his mind as they continued down the dark and abandoned streets of the suburbs. Surely that smile didn't mean what he thought it meant. Was it a clue? A hint? One of those subtle things that girls thought guys actually understood? What he wouldn't have given in that moment to have that foresight, but alas, it only left him wondering.

While he busied himself with those thoughts, they walked ever farther into the abyss. It was becoming harder and harder to see the side-walk now with only the faint glare of small LED lights from the front of neatly trimmed lawns and the occasional streetlamps that were laid at regular intervals to guide them. While the lights of the city glowed on the horizon, evil looking shadows were starting to be cast as the gradual pitch of the night began to set in.

Any normal person would have been frightened or at least mildly concerned about this; but not them - they continued walking. After watching enough horror films together, they had accustomed themselves to accepting the darkness and embracing it. In a sense, it was a fatalistic intuition. They both knew what might happen and they accepted it. It was just one of those many things that set them apart from all the other "normal" children.

Of course, Gaz wasn't like any other "normal" girl either, as Dib often mused to himself. She was a fighter, a scraper, a ball-buster, a regular bitch (if the term could be applied in any way more appropriate). It was one of the many things he admired about her. It secretly delighted him when she insulted him or mocked him. It was evidence of that rebellious fire underneath her - gleaming through the outer-shell of her human form. A fire that he desperately wished he possessed, but even more so, wished that he could touch. But as with any fire, if you get too close and you will get burned. Going on his experience with that in that past, he decided that he would tread as lightly as possible.

In the meantime, neither he nor his sister had any idea where they were going. They had simply started walking down one street, then past a sign, around a corner, and in any direction they pleased. They had no purpose, direction, or bearing – but they had each other. In the vast and complicated maze they were still right beside each other. And that's what meant the most to both of them.

By now the fading twilight had dispersed and in it's wake only the dark, foreboding presence of the night remained. "Sure did get dark quickly, didn't it?"

"Yeah..." she answered, her mind wandering on other things.

Dib saw his chance. He stretched himself precariously to reach to his sister's arm that was hanging by her side, and clasped his palm within hers. He heard a quick breath of surprise escape her lungs. He saw the faint outline of his sister's face stare at him in the pitch darkness, her eyes glimmering with question marks. He only answered with a leering smile, like the one she had given earlier. She quickly regained her composure and after a second, he felt the limp tug of her hand give way as she slowly tightened her grip around his – success.

The siblings, now intertwined, rounded a corner into a narrow back alley where no car could enter. They were on the richer side of suburb now. The houses were old and spacious; the lawns wide and irregular, and the lights by which to guide them were still becoming progressively fewer as their excursion carried on.

On the far side of the street, Gaz spied a rather large cemetery that was discretely hidden from unwanted eyes by a large grove of trees and shrubs on either side. "Hey, Dib-shit" there was that fire again, "Let's cut through the graveyard. We could get home faster."

He bowed in an eccentric pose, swooping his arm like he was addressing someone of a noble title. "As you will, Gazlene."

She gritted her teeth and kicked him in the groin, "I told you never to call me that." She hated her real name, that's what made it so much fun to say it – no matter how much pain he incurred on himself.

Though he was doubled over in pain, he still wished to play the part of the gentleman he thought he was, so he strolled over the entrance and opened the spiked iron gate of the cheerless graveyard. "Your ladyship." he said in a ridiculously high-pitched imitation of an English accent.

"Peasant." she replied in an equally ridiculous accent. He smirked at her vivaciousness.

They both ascended over the metal threshold that was marked below the gate, as Dib shut the gate behind them.


	3. The Graveyard

**Woo! Update! Yeah! Alright, enjoy people. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. I would also like this time to thank Nitoculus, to whom this is dedicated. Thank you.**

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><p>"You scared Dib?"<p>

He didn't answer; there was only the soft stillness of the evening that lingered over the ancient stones and mausoleums of the scantly visited cemetery. An owl cry in the distance caused him to shrink back in a momentary startle as he tired to regain his bearings in the foreboding surroundings of the graveyard.

Only death could offer this much sanctum of silence. Not a sound, nor a whisper, nor a subtle reminder of the modern world broke the breathless silence. It was only the moon cast over-head and the dull echo of their shoes against the pavement as they passed the vast labyrinth of granite faces staring back at them from their ancient tombs. They were pale, grim faces; faces that could not see or hear or move, only sit there in unwavering coldness. There were other ghastly images of the most macabre sort: skulls, bones, and the occasional obsequy portrait were amongst the various reminders of mortality that stood in morbid relief, as if pondering some vestal recollection. The grim spectacle was only exacerbated by the occasional half-broken bust of some previously intact statue or a vase lying helter-skelter upon the ground, while the jagged remains of their bases peered like ominous specters in the obscured shadows as they came into their view and then faded into the sable-vested night.

None of this bothered Dib. He had grown accustomed to death from his many visits to the morgue to see autopsies performed. In truth, it was not the inevitability of his own uncontrollable demise that scared him; it was the things of everyday life, the things he did have control over that truly frightened him. Those things that were still left undecided like how he would live, what he would do, who he would love, were what added most to his many cares.

That was why he knew it was inevitable that he would wind up in such a place with his sister. They both were the odd man out when it came to doing things on the weekend. It was in that respect that they both shared in their lack of friends and took refuge in each others company. Though, until now, he had never found that company quite as enjoyable as would have liked. However, it was tonight that he found himself, not with his sister, but with this transient soul who lived within her.

He had felt something warm in those soft eyes of hers. It was like the hot iron of a forge being welded between them. Some hidden force was drawing them closer. What? He didn't know. All he knew was that it was there and it was making swoon as they continued down the dark path toward the other side of the cemetery.

"Well?" she asked.

He shrugged, trying to keep a steady face "No, I'm fine." Gaz rolled her eyes as if she didn't already know he was lying. He sighed silently to himself, trying to avoid eye-contact.

If only he could tell her why he was really frightened, the real reason he shook in a nervous sweat. If only she could grasp the depths of confidence in his blood and how much she really meant to him. It was this that he kept it the front of his mind, that undying realization: that he was not afraid of rejection – he was afraid of her rejection.

After all, she meant the world to him; more so than any other person he knew. He consciously winced when he could not please her or did something to vex her. Why he felt such a connection, such a desire to please her, he didn't rightfully know. However, it was that innate desire born out of professed longing and kinship that now made itself abundantly clear and forced it's way to the surface of his skin, begging him to act out his craziest desires.

He heard an evil voice whisper in his ears, its tongue as seductive as silver, "Why do you keep denying it? You know you want it."

"No, I don't." he answered in his head. He shook his head in agony, torn between his conscience and his amorous intentions.

"Liar!" it answered back, "You want it so bad you can't stand it." He knew deep down it was wholly correct, but he would never admit it to himself, and especially not to Gaz. Could he love his own sister? Was he wrong in feeling they way he did toward her? It only added to the multitude of questions that bombinated inside his head.

He couldn't take anymore. He steps in front her. She looks up at him and they gaze into each others souls. "Move Dib." she sounds irritated. Any other time he would have gladly obliged, but his heart was welling up in the depths of fire and he wouldn't be budged until he said what he knew he had to.

"Gaz..." he breaths hard; his chest is constricting on him, making it harder to breath. "Do you remember that time I came into your room without knocking?"

Her face turns a crimson red. "Yes, I was changing."

"Do you remember the black eye you gave me?"

She groans, "Does this have a point Dib?"

"Yes." he says seizing her hands. "I would have endured being beaten a thousand more times just to see you again. I tell you, you are the most beautiful girl known to me, and I'm really thankful that I have a sister like you."

For the first time in his life he saw his sisters face be over-come with uncertainty. It was breath-taking and terrifying at the same time. He felt a courage, an audacity he had never felt before rise up in his chest. He leaned in and his lips softly caressed hers under the light of the moon over-head. The kiss was sensual and intimate; his movements graceful and delicate, like he was touching a masterpiece he didn't want to taint – the taste of passion passing between their tongues.

Suddenly Gaz pushed her brother away. She forcefully shoved him to the ground, his lanky figure plopping on the pavement. She didn't waste a moment before she ran off sobbing, leaving Dib all alone in the dark and lonely cemetery to mourn.

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><p><strong>New Word of the Day: Bombinate - to buzz. <strong>


	4. The Encounter

**Well, it seems I had a sudden spark of inspiration as I was nodding off to sleep. Funny how the creative genius works. Anywho, please read and review. **

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><p>Pain. Those bruises and injuries from his earlier encounter made themselves known again. It was a dull ache, but they were still wholly apparent, all the same.<p>

Dib groaned as the world spun around him. He held his head in his arms as he tried to understand what exactly had he done wrong.

He cursed under his breath. He was angry. Not at his sister, (whose rage was fully justified), but at his own foolishness. Why had he done something so stupid? Was he out of his mind? Who goes up and tries to make out with their sister, and in a graveyard, nonetheless!

He scolded himself as the agony of the realization set in: he'd never be able to talk to her again. She would forever try to sever herself from him. He'd have no one left then. No one in the world who cared or remembered him.

He felt the deepest recess of any joy he once possessed fade in a single instant. There was only darkness left in the its place; utter and complete isolation. It was then he wished he could just fall over and die. How he yearned for the Earth to open up and swallow him whole. How he begged for it to end. But, alas, there was only the silent remorse of the ancient cemetery faces.

Dib dragged himself off the ground and began to trudge his way home, ready to face the consequences of his senseless actions. His conscience haunting him along every descent.

A few yards more and he gave up the will to continue. He sat himself on a stone bench in the courtyard of three adjacent marble mausoleums that lay confined in a little area off the main path, and hung his head in his arms.

He looked up at the moon hovering gently in the evening sky; its pale light reminding him of his sister's fair complexion. He knew her image was now forever burned within his head. No matter what happened, no matter how many times he repented, no matter how many times he asked forgiveness, he would never be able to wash her image away. He held the palms of his hands up to his eyes, "Damn spot."

As the overhead clouds parted a bit, he noticed a flashing glint of light out of the corner of his eye. There, sitting at the base of the mausoleum step amongst some dead flowers was a green bottle of chardonnay – the cork not yet popped.

He picked up the curious bottle and examined it. The label on the side wasn't weathered, nor did the outside convey any signs of aging. It was a just a perfectly good bottle of wine.

He smiled as he looked it over. "Oh well, why not?" he asked aloud. He eyed around to see if any late-night mourner were making a pilgrimage, then reached for the tantalizing neck of the vessel.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing!"The sudden voice startled him. He bottle dropped out of his hands and exploded on the stone terrace below. "Ah! Christ! Look what you've done!"

He looked up to see a man dressed in dapper clothing standing on the roof the mausoleum in front of him. "What!" Dib asked, not sure what else to say.

The man smiled. He was a handsome devil with an infectious grin as large as the bowler hat he wore upon his head. He couldn't have been more than thirty years old, yet he talked with all the debonair of a middle aged playboy. "Scared?" he asked non-nonchalantly.

Dib stammered a bit, unsure if he was real. "Who are you?"

"A better question is: who are you? This is my sward friend and I don't like trespassers."

"Your sward?"

"Yes" he said slicking his flawless hair back, "My turf, my acre, my fief, my haven, my dominion, if you understand that better. And you sir, are also buying me some more Chardonnay ala Hauteville. " his french was impeccable. "By the way," he said studying him over, "what are you doing here?" Dib didn't know what to say to this apparition who appeared out of nowhere. His demeanor and attire were wholly disarming in such an odd place. "Speak up! What are you doing here?"

"I..I...was with my sister..."

"I saw that. Trying to swoon her off her feet, right?"

Dib blushed and bowed his head again, "Yeah..."

"Well you'll never do it like that."

He was startled by his reply. "Look" Dib said holding up his hands, "I don't even know who you are."

"Charles. My friends call me Charlie, but you can call me that if you like. I kind of like Charlie, has a better ring if you ask me.

"Charles...I don't know anything about you or what you or anyone else could tell me about romance."

"Why everything dear boy. I wrote the book."

Dib glanced at him. His voice was hesitant, "I'm listening."

"Well, you come up here and I'll show you."

Dib crossed his arms. "No, you come down here. I shouldn't have to climb up there."

He smiled at his impertinence. "Why not? You're the one asking for my help."

"I never asked for anything!" He turned around in frustration only to see Charles standing in front on him between the mausoleums.

"Temper, temper dear boy. No need to get in a knot."

Dib was taken aback, "But how did you...?"

"Well that's one of the many advantages of being dead."

His eyes widened, "You mean...?"

"Precisely, been dead now for..." he pulls out his pocket watch from his jacket and examined it, "120 years now. Well...122 if you want to be precise."

Dib had always believed in the paranormal, but he had never seen a living (or rather, non living) embodiment of that belief besides Zim. "You're...you're...dead?"

He sighed, rolling his eyes as if he had been asked the question a thousand time. He takes his hand and waves it around. His arm passes uninterrupted through Dib several times. "See? Dead as a doornail. Though, to be honest I never knew why it had to be a doornail. Seems like a coffin nail would be a more appropriate piece of ironmongery to describe something dead."

Now it was Dib's turn to roll his eyes, "I've read Dickens you know."

"And so you have. Shows you're an intelligent boy. Now on to the business at hand."

"Okay." Dib said with more than a hint of excitement. He knew this wasn't something that happened everyday.

"Tell me, what were you planning to do when you got home?"

He pondered it over trying to think of what he had planned to do. "Honestly, I don't know. I wasn't planning on anything."

"Wrong answer." he said sternly, "You never go into battle without a plan."

"A battle?"

"Yes, dear boy, a battle. It's you against her, two forces clashing against each other for dominance. It most certainly is a battle."

"Uh-huh, so you want me to shoot her?"

"Shoot her?" No, no, no it's not that kind of battle. It's a battle of the mind."

"Like chess?"

"Certainly. Only the stakes are much higher than your common garden-variety chess match."

"So what do I do?" he asked, his anticipation secretly growing inside him.

"Apologize."

"Okay..."

"And not just some "I'm sorry", you gotta really sell it to her. Give her a good bang. Make it look like you're the most pathetic creature to slither on his belly."

"How?"

"Tell her things like how disgusting you are or how unworthy you are. Women love to see a man stripped of his dignity." Dib chuckled to himself. He knew that with Gaz this was all too true. "But you must make it sound sincere."

"Uh-huh? And then I..."

"Walk away..."

'Walk away?"

"Yes, walk away." Dib batted his eyes in confusion, "Nothing will sell like being able to just say 'no'."

"And this will work?'

"Without a doubt."

"How do you know?"

"I told you before, I wrote the book." he looks off to the side, "On the other hand, that might have also been one of the reasons I got the syphilis..."

"What?"

"Oh, nothing. Just reminiscing is all." he pulls out a cigar from his waist coat and lights it, mindlessly puffing away.

Dib bit his lip. He wasn't sure exactly what he wanted to say but he didn't want to lose this time either. "So...what's it like being dead?"

"Oh it's terribly boring. Staying inside that musty place all day. Maid hasn't been around for spring cleaning in ages." His humor was as black as his pleated coat.

"Do you...do anything?"

"Sometimes me and the fellas will scare the living daylights out of some old lady. Rousing good fun, you should try it some time."

"The fellas?" Before Charles could answer, the digital watch Dib had upon his wrist sounded, announcing that it was nine o'clock. "Well, it seems I have to..." he turned to see Charles had vanished. "Charles?"

A heard a faint whisper in his ear, "We'll meet again, you and I."

Dib pulled back, "So it was you whispering in my ear! You were the voice telling me to do it!"

His yelling was only met with silence of the grave. Dib glanced around again and rubbed his eyes to make sure what he had witnessed was real. As he walked away though, he wasn't sure if should have been terrified or angry at this specter. Needless to say, he was still debating the matter as he stepped over the threshold on the opposite side of the cemetery and shut the steel gate behind him, as he started back for home.


	5. Reconciliation

**Sorry everyone for the late update. With school and all I've barely had time to think. Anyway, I took this precious time to update my fic. I hope you enjoy.**

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><p>"What the hell do you want?"<p>

The question rebounded of her lips like the roar of a mighty cannon. The cutting disappointment in her words wounded him more deeply in that moment than any insult he had ever received. He lived only to satisfy her, to please her. To cause her pain would to defy that purpose which he had given himself. For in his heart, he knew without her he would only be half a lung, half a heart, half a cause. She, in the truest since, was bound to him by those everlasting stitches of devotion that defied the very essence of his own intuition and broke beyond the bounds of his reason. She was what made him whole. Without her, he was nothing. To displease Gaz would be to forfeit his own existence, his reason for going on. It was this love, this unreasoning force, that had brought him here and it was for this very reason he spoke to her now.

"To apologize." The words were uttered with deadly precision.

In the dark stillness of the autumn night he saw his sister rise from the side-walk curb where she had sat and walk towards him. Her silhouette slowly made its way over the pavement until he could make out her features in the precious amount of light given from the street lamp above him. He saw the glisten of her violet eyes sparkle like precious gems in the night, the bright hue of her cheeks which showed the freshly made trails of tears, and the vibrant red of her delicate lips.

Her face was filled with pain. A pain that was welling up inside her that couldn't be contained. She reeled back, and in one swift moment, her hand ascended to the heavens and landed on the side of his cheek with a resonating smack. His face stung with an incredible pain. It was the hardest slap he had ever received from her but he sat unwavering, unfaltering. The pain of her rejection was far worse than any pain he could have endured on this squalid earth. He simply looked into those magnificent eyes of hers and saw only the purest fire still burning deep within her soul. That irresistible temptation that made him want her more than anything the universe had to offer.

His sister gave over to trepidation and lunged at him with all her might, striking fierce punches of vengeance into his chest. He leaned back to catch her as she continued until she faltered into his shoulders. She cried with the deepest agony. All the hate she had felt for him melted away in one continuous flow of tears into the fabric of jacket. He tightened his grip around her slender form as he held her head in his hands. He caressed the locks of her hair, whispering comforting reassurances into her ear. The tumult of emotions spewed forth in that solitary moment, and as they pressed against each other, they felt the bond that they had shared since birth reunite them. A deep, overwhelming radiance seemed to overcome that gap which had seemed to separate them for so long.

No longer did they feel the cold and the despair of the evening night that consumed the world in darkness; no longer did they know of hate or malice; no longer were they but two lonely and forgotten actualities that went throw the world devoid of kindness or compassion. In the presence of each other they found the one thing the world had not given them: love. A love that transcended the understanding of either of them, that transcended heaven and earth, that transcended the very depths of oblivion and beyond the stars. It was as if all the mortal realm disappeared around them and only the glowing light of the emulated affection remained; a pure,radiant form that was as lucid as light itself.

As the convulsions of sobs began to die, she found herself returning her brother's embrace. Lost in this sudden tranquility of body and mind. She looked up to see his face illuminated against the back of the full moon behind him. The sharp angled shadows only served to show is strong complexion. Gaz found herself staring into his auburn eyes and being filled with sense awe. He had such passionate, loving eyes. For the first time ever she stood in reflection of her brother's handsomeness. A trait and quality she had never considered before, but one that was only becoming more inherently apparent.

He tenderly held her in his firm hands and evenly stared back at her. When he spoke, he spoke with a uninhibited remorse that caught her solely off guard. He began slowly and deliberately. "Gaz, I'm sorry. For everything. That was a stupid thing to do and I apologize. But...I love you Gaz. I love you more than the sun or the sky or the moon. You are what I treasure most in this world. You're everything to me and I'd if I hurt you... I could never forgive myself."

Underneath the pale moon-light she only watched, lost for any words to say. She saw only the world circle around in one vast pendulum of blurred object. The only fixed vision was that of her brother. He moved in slowly to her and placed a soft kiss upon her lips. This time she didn't resist. This time she let herself swoon under the passion of her brother as their tongues vied for dominance within the chambers of their mouths. She felt in that moment such a euphoric sense of bliss. Any hint of doubt or fear that lingered was replaced by euphoria to such an extent she felt a pang of grief when, what seemed like centuries later, he pulled away.

In that absence, their hearts became filled with a burning desire. An intense longing overtook their senses. In the recess of their souls a lustful ambition crept forth like some hidden craze that wished to burst through the confines of their flesh. Both of them knew in that instant, as the stared into the confines of each others souls, that they had reached reconciliation.


	6. Alone

**Alright, another update. Hope you enjoy. **

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><p>The entirety of their lives seemed to begin and end in that single, fleeting moment on that abandoned suburb road. Dib wrapped his sturdy arms around his sister's lissome shoulders as his timid fingers trembled in concealed anticipation. He inhaled the sweet radiance of the lilac aroma that emanated from the beautiful locks of her hair. He thought of how long he had waited for this moment, how long he has wished for this moment. He savored every passing second while their fingers nestled every part of their bodies.<p>

They eagerly delighted in one another's touch. The night had found them siblings no more; they were now the wanton offsprings of unhindered lust. Consumed by one another in their solitude, they now embraced with a pugnacious affirmation that, exacerbated by years of denial of the licentious attraction they shared, was made all the more ferocious in the callous pursuit of its carnal passion. It was no longer within the mere bounds of a relationship shared by family, but of a cordial matrimony in which all forsaken pleasures were to be exacerbated in the course of that evening.

It was during those fervid convulsions of the flesh that Dib felt, for the first time, that fire he so often observed with jealous admiration in his sister. He could at last suffer the red hot embers of its kindle leap up like a mighty bellow in his breast and accord him the strength and tenacity he so desperately wished he possessed. Finally, that belligerent energy that seemed so absorbed in his sister was now wholly apart of himself; no longer some forlorn dream, but a reality which had emerged like a water spewing forth from a geyser from the deepest recesses of his soul. In that, they were already connected, not by will or choice, but the very essences of their beings.

Dib made no sign of remorse in his actions. In his mind he knew that he loved her. From the prodigious nature of those earlier years, this bond they shared had become increasingly ascertainable to both of them. It was the ultimate culmination of their innermost desires born from an intimacy that only the two of them understood; an awkward and often impersonal knowledge of one another that few other siblings ever shared. It was for this reason that in this solitary hour he had decided to break those bonds asunder, and unleash the full might of his desire upon her, entirely devoid of regret or conscience.

He latched his fingers around the side of her narrow collar and began to make a series of quick pecks along her neckline. His eager tongue danced along her skin as he placed one kiss after another on her tensing muscles. Gaz let out a gasp of excitement as she felt the warm frenzy of her brother's endearments trace its way to to the back of her spine and proceed to chew on her lobe.

Her body quivered in obstinacy and she moaned to the pace of his loving worship of her beauty . It became ever more fervent. On the back her neck, she felt his warm breath gently brushing her skin and the hushed admonitions of love being softly whispered into her crimson ear. They erupted from his mouth like so many desperate pleas, earnestly begging that which the both of them longed for.

In the hushed stillness, she became seduced into a trance that was the direct off-set of her brother's desirous yearning. In the frenzy of her passion she knew in the back of her mind she was no longer in control. In this one act of utter depravity she had surrendered all control of the situation. The devices of her stimulation had all but been loosed in that moment of forbidden ecstasy to which she found herself apart of. In so doing, she left herself to her own intuition to be ravaged as her brother saw fit; which excited her to a point that was beyond the words that either of them had to express it.

She tingled all over from the though of her brother's hands caressing every inch of her body, the loving kisses he laid upon her, the gentle words with which he whispered his most secret desires to her. They had both ceased to be who they were and instead reborn again in longing. The twisted constraints of reality only acted to heighten the pleasure. Every vestige of their formers beings were cast away like an unwanted shell. There were now no boundaries to withhold them than the loins they wore upon their shoulders.

He reached around and pressed his palms against her back and felt his way up her spinal cord until he felt the strap of he bra against his hand. It was then that Gaz was broken of the trance that had held her sway and acted on that necessary impulse by which to regain control of the situation. She sunk her teeth into the side of his neck. He let out pained yell as he retrieved his hand. She casually traced her fingers over his neck to smear the blood on her fingers. "Not yet" she purred as she lapped the crimson liquid from fingers like an exotic fruit.

The sight of his sister devouring the same blood that the both of them shared filled Dib with an excitement he had never felt before. That inflamed ecstasy was only fueled by the sight of her luscious hips straddling back in forth as she greedily licked her fingers a morsel at a time. He nuzzled her neck in a desperate plea of enticement. "Come on..."

"No, not yet." she said calmly, flashing that same knowing grin she had given him earlier that night on their way to the cemetery. "You're gonna have to prove you're worth it."


	7. Love at Last

**My first attempt at smut. I really did not have the intention of this when I first wrote it, but whatever...Hope you enjoy. As always, don't be afraid to leave a review.**

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><p>Dib didn't like displeasing his sister. It was one of those unspoken rules he had learned over time, after numerous beatings and abuses, that had become a standard for his entire existence. This rule, hitherto exercised by an almost unwavering loyalty on his part, had one integral component and precept which acted as the rule of thumb for any action he preceded to preform or carry out within his household or within the realm of their school: don't piss Gaz off.<p>

He often bemoaned his plight at the many odd and out-of-the-way things he did to, at best, brighten her mood, and at worse, at least keep her from taking it out on him. Amongst a few, to be mentioned, were the carrying of her books to school when that time of the month had come due and she couldn't be burdened by such a trivial activity as carrying books, or the purposeful purchasing of a bark of extra-dark chocolate(which was Gaz's favorite).

While these tasks didn't burden Dib in any physical capacity, they had the unintended side-effect of making him, in more-or-less colloquial terms, her slave. That being stated, it was no wonder that his better instincts tore a superficial rift of insecurity in his gut when she stood before him in the living room of their house, in nothing but what she had come into the world wearing. Somewhere in the back of his mind, what remained of the little conscience he had not abandoned, told him that there was something advantageously perverse about this scene, that a line to be drawn, that he couldn't purposely choose to do something that violated the sanctity of his own blood like this. With a courage he had found only recently, he threw all caution to the wind. For the first time in his life, he broke the unspoken rule, and he choose to ignore it. Instead, he felt the twisted mechanisms of his mind's inner-workings delight in the spectacle of her fair skin, the nakedness of her breasts, the glow of lust in her eyes.

He watched transfixed, in an almost hypnotic state, as she floated entrancingly across the room to where he stood half-naked in his boxers. Her movements were like those of an Arabian belly dancer; swift, precise, tantalizing. She moved her body with such fluid motions that she became like this haunting specter that seemed to be moving around him, when she stood almost toe to toe, her bosoms touching his. This dance only served to awaken in Dib that primal instinct that lay hidden within him, and made him totally obedient to her commands.

He bit his lip and closed his eyes, not being able to stand the amorous display of his sister's bareness. Suddenly, he felt her delicate arms wrap around his neck as her lips came close to hers and embraced, their tongues swirling in the desperate passion of two adolescent lovers making up for lost time. She pulled away with a sensual ecstasy as she held him close. "You ready?"

He gulped, anxious with anticipation, and only responded with a hollow "Yeah".

She strode away from his embrace and casually propped herself on the couch and beckoned to him with the curling motion of her index finger. He nervously proceeded to follow her lead, using all the energy in his body not to spontaneously act on primal impulse and take what he wanted so desperately.

She laid a pillow in front of her womanhood and patted it with a forceful gesture, motioning him to lay down. He stretched out his lean body and cautiously laid precariously on the couch, his head resting on the pillow. Gaz watched this with a restrained coolness, a graceful air of dignity. Underneath, however, she looked on with a secret and contemptible satisfaction. Dib had grown into quite the body. His chest was well tone and fit, his muscles were lean, and his complexion as handsome as the best of guys. A pity, she thought to herself, he still had the same self-esteem and dignity he had from elementary school or he could have been quite the stud.

She ran her hand over his chest, feeling his muscles tense at the tenderness of her smooth hands. He was like a well fitted war-horse; his form just lean enough to get the best performance, while slender enough to get the best speed. As she glided over his chest, she felt the pumping of his heart against her palm. It convulsed with a heavy thud, a magnificent amount of weight which bounded from the skin. In it, Gaz felt the raw, untamed power of his form, the emulsions of desire within his soul. She grinned sadistically at the thought that this radial force, the magnificent power belong solely to her; that she controlled him, mind, body and soul. This sent ripples of unrequited pleasure down her spine to the very base of her hips, making her press he thighs around his shoulders in a lustful contortion.

As she rubbed the folds on his spiked hair, she was overcome with a fitful rage megalomania she had never felt before. She took her precious time. Dib was hers and no one else's and she relished in the control, the complete domination.

Which is why she took such great pleasure in whispering the a list of foul obscenities into the confines of his ears.  
>"Who is my bitch?" she asked mockingly.<p>

"I am." he would answer back with a resigned tone.

"Who is my bitch?" she asked again as if she couldn't hear him.

"I am." he answered again with an equally resigned resonance.

"Damn straight you are. You like this don't you? Don't you?"

"Yes..." he moaned haplessly.

She sighed and chuckled under her breath at his willingness to capitulate so early. She softened her tone,"Do you love your sister?"

"I do."

"How much?"

"More than anyone else."

"Bullshit! Say it like you mean it!"

"I love you more than the moon, the sun, the sky, the stars, the earth. More than I could ever want anything else!"

Gaz yawned with a faked disinterest in his pleading. She loved messing with him. "Well, maybe I should go and put on my clothes then, since you're obviously not interested."

"But I am!"

"Sure, sure." Gaz motioned for him to get up as she shifted her position. Dib's reaction was just what she had hoped for. He sprung up from his place, but instead of gracefully bowing down as he had always done before, he was overcome with a bestial rage. His face inflamed, he pinned her down to the sofa and destructively forced himself upon her. Gaz screamed and punched and kicked him, but the monster inside had been loosed, the deep, convoluted seeds of dissatisfaction and humility strung up into a primitive outpouring of malice mixed with his desires.

In that one moment, he permeated all boundaries that stood between them and destroyed the venerable chastity of both. It was as if the entirety of his spectrum of emotions had given sway to ambition as he laid claim to his sister's virginity, and then had subsided in a wondrous bliss that expanded with each thrust, which was more forceful than the last.

Gaz's kicks and blows, in the meantime, had subsided as she enjoyed the fevered culmination with equal gratification. She loved the feel of that raw, undisturbed force welled up underneath him. Every advance made her heart pound faster with ecstasy. It was the delight she felt of taming this stallion as he rode her in one continuous gallop.

At the end of their expedient journey, they both fell, exhausted and drenched in sweat, into each others' arms, both panting with equal tenacity. Gaz rubbed his back, utterly speechless, with only enough energy to lay a kiss on his neck. There they felt bound in the presence of the other's love, and it was there that both of them fell into a deep respite of rest, arms still embraced around one another.


	8. New Problems

**Alright guys, another update from your favorite author. Hope you enjoy. As always, leave a review.**

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><p>The days passed consistently in the Membrane household after that evening. Gaz and Dib would go about there everyday lives, continuing the normal charade of existence at school as if nothing was different between them, and then rushed home to make love in any number of locations throughout the house.<p>

Insomuch as it was concerned, the ritual habit of this daily routine did not diminish the ferocity at which the two engaged in their admittedly twisted lust. Dib tore away the straps of her bra as eagerly as he had the first time they had gone at it, and likewise, Gaz still enjoyed the soft caresses as equally as when they had first shared their intimate passion on the abandoned stretch of road, in the middle of a suburb.

Soon the spontaneous energy of the earlier habits became increasingly sedentary in the face of time and concern. The tension that had earlier existed between them as brother and sister soon began to fade from the paramount endeavors of everyday life, and was instead replaced by a gradual frankness that was usually displayed between man and wife. Being totally consummated in all things sexual by this point, it was no surprise to either of them that soon began referring to each other as "darling" or "sexy" when they talked or started jostling in each other in a manner that they never had before. It was only incidental that neither of them wholly acknowledge this facet of their ever growing relationship and continued living in this fantastical pendulum of ecstasy between lust and appearance in their household, until it no longer existed, to either of them.

At school it was no better. Often during class, the both of them would synchronize a time to ask permission to leave the classroom for some trivial affair (usually the bathroom), and would go out and cavort together in some remote place in the hall or under the stairs on the abandoned wing of the school. So consumed in this need to be together, that the mundane and trivial day-to-day affairs school became secondary, a remedial thing to both of them, and likewise, the teachers who could have, likewise, cared less for their presence, in any case. Not that the loss of such work was a concern to either of them; they both had grades on such a high standard that no amount of abuse, at this point, could have damaged it in any significant way. The only reason they came to school at all was for the appearance of normality and to drag the attendance on enough so that they could both graduate.

In the meantime, Zim, whose plans for the imminent destruction of the world, which now could be fulfilled without any hindrance, soon began to feel the onset of apathy and boredom at a world that, like the two lover-siblings, didn't seem or notice or care about him. He first tried finding friends within the school, only to be rejected when his lack of personal skills unraveled him, and then tried harassing Dib again. All these efforts were in vain, however, and soon he dropped into a fitful despair where he would go out on the town to local bars and drown himself in alcohol and cheap earth-women, whom he found he had a particular taste form. He stopped coming to school and then stopped coming home altogether. After a while, the presence of "Invader Zim" had become more of a surreal abstraction in the mind of those who had once seen him, and then became a flight of fancy, a passing notion of the nostalgia of earlier times. It was is if that eccentric charisma that had permeated all the things around him had suddenly vanished and all that was left was but a vague memory.

His green and purple house, which had stood for the better part of nearly 10 years since he arrived, fell into disrepair and neglect; with its grass grown out, its gnomes rusted, and its roof rotted, people began to wonder if anyone had ever lived there before. Such was the state of the odd domicile until two years later in collapsed on itself in a heap of rubble and debris, a victim of cruel time and abandonment.

The fate of Zim, however, never concerned Dib beyond a haunting notion that he sometimes felt as he passed by the oddly placed dwelling. He looked it over, shrugged, and then walked on to wherever he needed to go; he was far too concerned with the state of his lover to be of much interest in an alien who he remembered for only causing him misery and hardship. That evil which had plagued him like an dark shadow suddenly seemed to have vanished from site, and Dib could have cared less whether he was alive or dead.

In the meantime, he and his sister continued in their frolic through all things carnal, being now totally devoid of anything beyond themselves and the mutual exclusivity they felt for one another. However, whether by inevitability or by the odd chance of fate, it came to pass that their father discovered the alleged affair in the act.

On the day they had decided to make love on the living-room recliner (most everywhere in the house had already been "christened") their father had the privilege of getting the day off from work and thought me might give his children a surprise visit. Whether he knew if they really cared about his presence after being absent for so long was unknown to him; whatever little amusement he got from it was enough for him to relish on, in one of the few times he ever saw them.

When he walked in through the front door, his jaw instantly dropped at what he saw. Laying sprawled out before him were his children, intimately fondling each other (naked) on the recliner. His heart skipped a beat, his eye twitched, and he started shaking when he saw the two upon the recliner. His recliner! His face became flushed with rage at the defiled chair where he hoped he may have pried his feet in the joy of his own home. Now all hints of normality had been destroyed. Such were his connection to his leather, premium made chair, that he saw the slightest touch to be an act of treason. Such joy did he discover from that chair, that he had fantasized about when he could watch the playoffs in it's luxurious comfort for the better part of two months. The chair was his, as close to him as any brother-at-arms or lover, and he saw in his two offspring the destruction of his former happiness which he had so intimately desired for.

He screamed with an anger that defied human restraint, "My CHAIR!" He pounced upon the naked Dib, fiercely chasing after him around the house and outside into the street yelling "You bastard son! You're not my son! You've taken my love from me!"

He chased Dib, out the door, over the fence, past the neighbors garden, around the block, past Zim's abandoned house, through the park (that was filled with children), into an ice-cream truck on the block, into a family's pool, past the alleyway, back into their own yard, and then into the house, all the while yelling vile obscenities at him for disgracing the family name with the degradation of his recliner. When Dib flew through the door, he locked it behind him, and fled to the living-room where Gaz was now dressed and trembling in fright behind the most holy of chairs.

The door was rammed apart by the now delirious professor who was after blood. "You!" he pointed to his naked son, "Get out! I never want to see you again!"

"Dad please, we can talk about this!" Gaz wailed.

Then he pointed to her with an equally dramatic pose, "You as well! I don't want to see either of you again! You banished from my Kingdom! I give you five days to flee as far as you will and at the end of that period, if I ever see you two again, you will pay the forfeit with your lives!"

There was foam dripping from his mouth as they fled the house in terror and the events that had transpired, bewildered and disoriented by utter madness. When they closed the door behind them, the professor eagerly comforted the ravaged chair, "Don't worry, you'll be better. It's gonna be alright. You'll see, I'll get some disinfected and it will be all better, I promise. Don't cry. Daddy's here, daddy's here..."


	9. Premonitions

**Woo! Second in two days! Yay! Anyway, hope you enjoy, as always. Don't forget to read and review.**

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><p>Two weeks later, the couple received a letter, bound with a red seal, addressed to the both of them, written by their father, telling them in an intimate apology about his regent for his previous actions and for running them out. However, the postscript at the bottom pointed out in black and white that his previous resolve to keep them both severed was still in effect. They were disowned, legally, by the wavier that was attached in the other envelope.<p>

The two read the letters over silently within the small apartment where they were staying on the nice side of town. The apartment itself was provided by the generosity of one of Membrane's colleagues, who explained that the professor had been exposed to mercury too long, and that the element, as noted, was having some adverse effects on his mind. All of this was received by a frank and skeptic nod by the siblings, who had never seen their father act in such abnormal way, apart from his usual antics.

Dib leaned his head down as he handed the paper over to Gaz. "Well, that's it then. We're done!"

She read the letter over and with a cool demeanor, laid it on the table. "Don't worry Dib, Dad will come back around." she said, knowing that possibility had vanished when their father had signed his name on the legality paper.

"We can't go back to him Gaz, we can't. It wouldn't be right to."

"So don't, stay here, with me." she smiled, twisting his hair gently.

"But we can't!" he slammed his fist on the table. "We just can't! How are we suppose to live!"

"We've been taking care of ourselves now for the past eight years, why are you upset now?"

"Because we have no money! And neither of us have finished high-school! God-dammit, now what do we do! Go flip burgers!"

She went behind him and pressed her hands on his shoulders to get him to sit on the dining room chair and gently massaged his shoulders to calm him. "Don't worry, we'll both find jobs and we can drive or take the bus to school. Not saying it will be easy, but we could do it."

Dib sighed and clasped her hand in his, looking up and smiling with the sheepish, knowing smile she had given him when they had first set out on their evening excursion that October night. "Everything is always so simple with you." They leaned in and kissed passionately and then parted.

"I'm going to go and finish unpacking my love. Why don't you go out and see if you can start looking for a job?"

Dib nodded his head in affirmation. "Alright, I will."

When Gaz trailed in the bedroom around the corner, he got up and looked at the calender, hanging on the wall next to the fridge, in the dinning room. He took note of the date and started out into the hallway that led to the stairs.

Walking down the narrow corridor lined with identical, white paneled doors, his mind pondered over the reality of his own situation and what it meant in the grand spectrum of all thing. The doubts and fears of his earlier revelations on existence that he had fancied to himself in the graveyard came back to haunt him in the surreal microcosm of the hallway around him . He realized his own place and destiny, which had a few weeks earlier been so clear, had been utterly lost with the peculiar turn of events that had transpired; but he couldn't help but wonder if it could have been avoided. Or should this calamity have been avoided at all? He thought what over the circumstances had brought him here and realized in that devoid space of time that it was he himself, nobody else.

The conundrum of fate and free-will further perplexed him. Would he had been better off if he had accepted the humiliation of defeat and resigned himself? The question fell with a dead weight on his mind. He knew that he couldn't change his nature, nobody could, so why was he worrying? While he didn't believe wholly in fate, he still couldn't help but court the notion that some super-natural force had guided them to this place so far astray from the normal facets of their once normal existence, where he hunted a green alien and she played on her game slave in a world that never seemed to change. It was as if the events that had transpired were a passing concoction of fiction, written down as if in a book, over which he had no control of what happened to him or what his or his sister's fate would be. He heaved a deep sigh, thinking over these things, while he descended to the front of the door where the landlord's office was.

He prepared to pull the golden-styled handle that would have lead him to the front desk and out onto the street but paused, just as his hand was about to touch it. A sense of dread over-came and a chill ran down his spine. He heard the cries of some distant wailing that couldn't be comprehended but was all too real and the sound of a trigger and a bullet. It was real, but yet it wasn't; a shadowy realm of unknown sights and sounds filled the building where there was only silence to be heard.

His heart beat rapidly and he wondered if there was someone or something that lingered on the other side. He bit his lip and silently pushed the door open, letting it hit the concrete behind it before cautiously steeping out into the corridor. He looked down the empty tunnel to see only a woman nursing a baby on the right and the door to the open street, where cars and people were streaming by, on the left.

He batted his eyes and wondered if the premonition was something to come, or was it just his imagination playing tricks on him in a new environment? Whether it was his imagination or not, this place didn't seem wholly new either. Gazing over the setting, he felt an eerie sense of recognition, as if he had seen this place before. He hurriedly flapped his jacket, preparing himself to go into the busy street beyond, trying, perhaps, to shake off the feeling from his body. In the street, he heard the crunch of people's feet, he felt the cold ripple past his ears with the site of a brisk snow floating past hm, and the feeling of crushing loneliness in a world that was filled with people who neither understood nor cared for them.

He spent the rest of the day looking for work in a various assortments of places, finding neither a warm welcome or any offers. It was one disappointment after another until he dragged himself to their little apartment on the second floor, cold and exhausted.

Closing the door behind him, he found the apartment dark and abandoned. He shivered a bit, being still chilled to the bone from the frigid winter air. He called into the house: "Gaz!" No answer. He called again, but there was no answer. Then he noticed a small paper hanging from the fridge, attached with a magnet.

_"Dear Dib,_

_Went out to buy groceries. Be home soon."_

He sighed crumpling the piece of paper and throwing it into the trash. His sister was becoming perkier all of a sudden, something he thought the old Gaz would never do. Why? He hadn't a clue, but it was starting to worry him when she started smiling more than once or twice a day, though she still had the same cold, refined manner which he had always loved and adored.

He sat pulled off his jacket and laid it on the coat wrack next to the door. It was then he eyed the bottle of champagne on the dining room table. He picked it up by it's neck and read the label. "How nice" he remarked. He popped the cork and drank straight from the tap. He sipped it down without care, he needed something to warm him up. He soon felt the warm embrace of the alcohol fondle him. He became giddy in the midst of the dark apartment. "Who cares about Dad?" he remarked, "Who cares about any of them." he laughed to himself as he stuck his thumb to his nose and blew a raspberry at the photo of him that had recently been hung on the wall

Suddenly, there came a fierce pounding at the front door. Dib smiled to himself, now lost in a stupor. "Hey, back so soon honey." He opened the door and was greeted the icy chill of the night on his skin, but it wasn't Gaz who was standing on the other side. Veiled in the dark, stood a large imposing shadow that appeared as if in a veil, with the appearance of a middle aged man.

"Charles?"

"In the flesh" the icy, metallic voice chuckled.


	10. Revelations

**Hey guys, sorry for the long respite. Been dealing with a bunch of crap but I have sat down and typed this new chapter. Again, apologies for not updating sooner. Enjoy.**

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><p>The news the specter had brought him was the worst kind in the world. Unknown to Dib at the time, the event was only a harbinger of things to come. Yet for the present circumstances, the events around the news were a tragedy to themselves.<p>

It was a dreary Saturday morning when the sanctuary of the Holy Trinity Church filled with attendees for the funeral. The service was short and simple. After the father spoke the liturgy and gave a brief sermon on the resurrection, the assembly had bowed their heads and given a prayer, after which the father prayed over the casket, gave it a blessing with holy water, and then the entirety of the group sang a hymnal. Afterwards, the casket was led outside by a selected group of pallbearers to the cemetery on the other side of the church, where it was lowered into its designated spot.

The mourners who had gathered on this solemn occasion wept, as the casket was lowered into the earth. The rain started to fall from the oppressive gray clouds overhead, and mixed with their tears. Among them were friends, acquaintances and colleagues of the deceased, along with several anonymous people and various unknown relatives who had come either out of respect to him or for the food which was served beforehand. Among them were the two siblings who just recently had been banished from their now-late-father's home.

Dib heaved a sigh as he held his sister's fragile hand in his. It had been mercury poisoning, as he had learned from one of his father's friends, which had caused his father's unfortunate downfall. A few too many experiments with the fatal substance had finally taken its toll on him. And while his death did nothing to alleviate the situation, it was also a fairly suitable and comforting explanation for Membrane's sporadic behavior in his last days, which was spawned more out of the element's hostile effects than any hostility of his nature.

His sister flung herself into his arms in an embrace and sobbed into his shoulder. The youth stood there as the rain poured down around them and mourners retreated for cover under the sanctuary roof and stared into the rows of graves and mausoleums. In the blurring twinkle of his eyes, barely perceptible yet intangibly real, stood the man in black behind one of the grave pillars, staring back at him with solemn eyes. There were no words to be spoken. Charles merely nodded his head and left, walking along the concrete path and then vanishing into the thin air.

It was an acknowledgment that had brought Charles to his door that late winter night. As the cold winter air whirled around them and the rain came down harder, he produced his umbrella and with the flick of his thumb, instantly shielded them in a black cover. He coaxed his sister gently, rubbing her hair and keeping a tight hold around her as they both walked to the waiting car.

The next few days at their small apartment were wracked with sorrow. It was as if the entire world as they knew it had come crashing down around their heads in an instant. The delusion of their reunification was shattered forever beneath an inexorable and unknowable event that had deprived them of any resemblance to normality they had ever known.

They both took it with a sad ineptness that seemed to be unacquainted with such events. Sure they had lived on their own for practically all their lives, and their paternal father figure was rarely around, but the occasion of his loss marked a fragile point in their relationship. It was now no matter of being blessed once more with their father's good will, but rather, a bleak disappointment on the face of already-turbulent events.

The house and the estate therein, which they had lived in for the better part of their lives, was forfeited with his death. Before he died, the professor, acting in his semi-disillusionment, had still enough brains about him to go and alter the will. In it, he dictated that he had, as he previously stated, disowned his children and that their fortunes were now bequeathed to the state. The state was more than willing to intervene. Their former house and inheritances fell into the custody of city management, and soon after the furniture and other accessories were auctioned off for a fourth of their worth and the house became a government-licensed tenet house for the homeless.

Needless to say, the impact of these events left a scar on the two Membrane children, who saw all they had ever known vanish before their eyes in one government-sanctioned felling. The terrible, swift sword of "justice" had descended like a lightning bolt upon their necks. It had vanquished any sign of happiness from their modest dwelling and was replaced by the brooding, lingering contempt that both felt at the embittering experience.

With so many high emotions provoked, a confrontation between the two was bound to happen. It was only a matter of when one would get the better of the other. Such an event happened barely a week after the dispute of their home had been settled by the judge in the court of law, on a dark winter evening.

Dib stepped briskly to the door of their bedroom, swinging his jacket over his shoulders. His sister, who was still lying face down in the bed, stirred from her slumber to see him fully dressed and preparing to leave. "Where are you going?" she asked, half-asleep.

"Out." he said simply, and continued to button his jacket.

"What do you mean 'out'?"

"Out." he stated again.

She wrestled herself out bed. "You're going out to drink, aren't you?"

"So what if I am?" he said bitingly.

"'So what?' Dib, you've never drunk before. This isn't like you."

"Well, I've changed. A lot of things have changed. I'm going out to get a drink."

"No, I forbid you to."

It was now a clash of wills, just as it had always been. From the very moment she locked eyes with him, it was a competition, a struggle, just like anything before it. Two immovable persons who could not be swayed, only now, battling on different terms.

"I'm going out, and there's nothing you can do to stop me." He pushed her to one side and made his way to the dining room to get to the door.

She chased after him and spoke as he placed his palm on the doorknob. "Dib," she said, her voice cracking and tears forming in her eyes, "You step out that door, and I'm leaving."

Dib held his hand for a brief period, swayed by her words, but only momentarily. He latched his fingers on the handle and called her bluff as he stepped out into the apartment hall and slammed the door behind him, leaving only a solitary Gaz, collapsed and crying on the carpeted floor.


End file.
